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Viewpoint: A better way forward for Minnesota

This November, voters in House District 54A will have a unique opportunity when deciding who should represent them in the Minnesota House of Representatives. They will have a clear choice between someone who believes that you know how to best live your life and spend your resources, and someone who believes that a small group of officials should control more of your life and resources.

I fall into the first category — I believe that freedom works better than control. As your representative, I will be a strong advocate for extending this commonly held belief to government. The great thing about this belief is that we all live it out in our daily lives. We teach our children that it is wrong to take things from people without their permission. We dread going to work for overbearing, controlling bosses. We all enjoy the freedom of choice that exists when looking for goods and services to purchase and sell. We all benefit from better living standards because of the innovation and competition that freedom leads to. If freedom works better than control in our everyday lives, it naturally should work to improve everyone’s lives when applied to government.

Unfortunately, the track record of the current representative, Dan Schoen, has largely been one of increasing government control. He believes that government should control more of the resources you work so hard for – as is evidenced by his vote for one of the largest tax increases in state history. He believes that government should control how your children are cared for — he voted to force daycare providers to unionize. He believes that government should control how you defend your family — he advocated criminalizing possession of life-saving body armor and increasing restrictions on obtaining gun permits. He believes that government should control how businesses sell their products — he promoted price controls on gasoline in the surrounding area. More examples can be given, but I trust you already see the contrast.

Recently, while visiting the Capitol as a guest of Rep. Denny McNamara, I was struck by a quote near the ceiling in the House chamber:

“No free government or the blessings of liberty can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue, and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.” – Patrick Henry

Principles and ideas matter immensely, and this election you have a very clear choice to make regarding what fundamental principles you believe will best move our communities forward. You can vote for Dan Schoen and his belief in government control of your life, or you can vote for me and my belief in your own control of your life. I am asking you to examine the issues and vote for the way you live your life every single day; vote that you believe freedom works better than control. Vote for me, Matthew Kowalski, for state representative.

Matthew Kowalski is the GOP-endorsed candidate for House District 54A.